•This week, Arizona cracked the AVCA Coaches’ Poll top 25 for the first time since the second week of September. UA is at No. 25, but the Wildcats have a chance to climb the ladder when they host USC and UCLA this weekend. Both Los Angeles schools are ranked in the top 10.Like they have all year, the Wildcats said they aren’t looking at the rankings. All year the players and coaches have had the mindset that the only poll that matters is the final one, but it has to be nice to receiving some national recognition again.
•Arizona could be without outside hitter Whitney Dosty, who missed most of last weekend with an ankle injury. Dosty won’t practice until today at the earliest. She’s UA’s second-leading scorer with 241.5 points on the season. “”It’s day-to-day for her,”” head coach Dave Rubio said. “”We need to have (her) play this weekend.””
•It looks like freshman middle blocker Tarryn Luafalemana is going to be redshirted this season. She suffered a foot injury in fall camp, and saw only one weekend of action before suffering a setback.””We’re talking to our compliance people to make sure that we’re following all of the right steps, and making sure that (redshirting Luafalemana) happens,”” Rubio said.
•It also seems like some swagger might be creeping back into the Wildcats’ step. After opening 0-2 in Pacific 10 Conference play, Arizona is on a four-game winning streak, including three straight come-from-behind wins on the road.
•Arizona’s four-game winning streak is currently the longest in the conference. Stanford, who was previously unbeaten, fell at the hands of UCLA Saturday.
•The Pac-10 is as wide open as it’s ever been. Before last weekend, Stanford looked like the clear-cut team to beat, but there are now seven teams with a legitimate shot at the conference title (everyone except Oregon State, Arizona State and Washington State, which have a combined 2-14 record in conference play).
•Senior middle blocker Kaylen Bannister is inching closer to full-strength after giving birth to a baby boy in August. Bannister started Arizona’s match at Oregon on Saturday, and notched a kill in three attempts in all five sets of action. She’s appeared in 16 of Arizona’s 67 sets this season.
•Senior setter Paige Weber’s consecutive set streak is still intact, and now sits at 393. She has never missed a set in her career at Arizona.
•Senior outside hitter Tiffany Owens was named the Pac-10 player of the week for her performance over the weekend. It’s the third honor for Owens in her career, and Arizona’s 28th conference player of the week all-time.
